Smolny Institute for Noble Girls

Catherine II founded the Smolny Institute for Girls, officially the Society for the Upbringing of Noble Girls, in 1764. Inspired by Saint-Cyr, a boarding school for girls in France, Smolny was part of Catherine's educational plan to raise cultured, industrious, and loyal women.

Smolny Institute was named so due to being close to the Smoly cathedral that was built on the place where a resin plant would once be ("resin" for "smola" in Russian).

Starting form 1918 the building houses the city government up to these days.

The foster-daughters of the Smolny Institute used to wear dresses of different colours according to the year of their education: coffee-brown for the first year, dark-blue for the second, light-blue for the third and white for the last forth year.

The emperor himself visited the final exam.

See the statues to the three theorists of Marxism-Leninism: V.Lenin, K.Marx and F.Engels.